The Gordon Research Conference on Developmental Biology has been running since 1970, and is recognized as the major and most prestigious mid-size meeting in Developmental Biology, bringing together ~150 outstanding senior and junior scientists for discussions of the recent advances in the field. The conference has several features that make it unique. It spans a wide variety of experimental systems and focuses on areas of exceptional activity or promise. This leads to fruitful comparative analyses and raises new questions about underlying mechanisms. 29 invited speakers, chosen based on their creative contributions to the field and their ability to promote fruitful discussions, have confirmd their attendance. Half of the invited speakers are women and two are minorities. The nine sessions cover classic topics and emerging areas in the field: Morphogenesis; Epigenetic Control of Development; Cellular Polarity; Stem Cell Biology; Small ncRNAs in Development; Intercellular Signaling; Self-Assembly within Cells; Transgenerational Inheritance; Transcription and Patterning. For each session, some time has been kept uncommitted to choose speakers from abstracts submitted by the participants. By maximizing both formal discussion and informal interactions, the Gordon Conference on Developmental Biology will help to define both the present state and the future of the field.